Arch and ankle support.



r1.1. MOUNTAIN. ARCH AND ANKLE SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1912.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

. llVCIltOl'.

j Anya Attesi: j n t E. J. MOUNTAIN.

ARGE AND ANKLE SUPPORT.

AFPLIOATION FILED MAR. 7, 1912.

y"Patented Apr. 28, '1914,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

In Ven to .Attest 7 incassa 'ra earns rn i Bewaar .'r. momvram, or New Yoan, N. r.

Anon No Nima surnom.

To all whom it ma concern: .A

Be 'it known t at l, EDWARD J. MOUN- TAIN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York,.have invented a new and "Improved Arch and Ankle' Support, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.. l

The invention relates tofoot-wear, and its object is to provide a new and improved arch and ankle support in and for a shoe or boot, for preventing weakening or breaking down of the bony arch of the foot, and to restore broken down arches, by the use of a-slightlyresilient plate arrangedpermanently in the hollow arch of the boot or shoe, or in other words, below the plantar surface of the `arch of the foot, and constructed in such a manner as to focus the weight as nearly as possible to the center of the foot and to equalize the weight 'of the body on the foot by distributing the said weight on the .foot to all parts of the foot alike,'thus supporting simultaneously both the longitudinal bony arch as well as the transverse bony arch of the foot, and balancing the latter to prevent lateral twisting; the plate, owing to its position, stiffness and curvature, also serving as an ankle support. 'Heretofore devices .of this character have utilized or consisted in stiening or supporting plates of varying widths, which have been arched longitudinally and sometimes slanted transversely, and have' Adiffered from my invention in that they have not conformed to the natural arch and position of the bones or" the foot, both longitudinally and transversely. For instance, in places where the crossesection of the ed to support this portion is sometimes iiat, and where a plate is provided having a curved cross-section, this curved cross-sec tion extends only lthrough a part of the plate, and other parts are left in'such form thatoverlying them. Moreover, in some instances resiliency is sought by supporting the plate upon springs or other elastic devices.

My invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same,

which will be more fully described hereinf after and then pointed out in the claims. A practical embodiment of the invention vto the under side of the insoley while resilient to such a degree as toshapes and proportions, some of normal V foot presents a concave line, the plate intendproperly support the portions Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 28, 1914, .Application med March 7, 1912. serial No. 682,107,

is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this s eclcation, in which similar characters of re erence indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the improvement as embodied in a left shoe, in which appears the outline of the bon 1 structure of the foot; Fig. '2 is an inverte plan view oflthe inner` sole and plate, and showing the outline of the bony structure of the foot; Fig. 3 is a cross-sec tion of the improvement on the line 1-2 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the plate forming a part of my improvement on the line 3-,4 of Fig. 6; Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the same plate on the line 5--6 of Fig. 6; Fig. 6 is a perspective view'of the resilient plate.

lThe shoe illustrated in the accompanying drawings consists essentially of the up er A, the outer or main-sole B, the insole and the heel D. interposed between the outer sole B and the insole C, at the hollow arch 'of the .boot or shoe, is arrange-da plate E made of a. stiii and yet resilient material such as steel or the like, and secured at its ends by rivets F or other fastenin devices This plate, yield somewhat and avoid' the shock of walking, is yet suiii'oiently stiff to provide a rm support to the arch, and especially because of its peculiar curvature, to support .that part. of the arch on the .inside of the foot underV the ankle.l To this end, the'plate E is arched in a longitudinal direction, as shown in Fig. 1, and also arched in a transverse direction, as indicated in Fig. 3, and the insole C overlies the plate E, that is, conforms to the shape thereof, as will be readily understood by reference to Figs. 1 and 3'. By reference to Fig. 1, it will be noticed that the curvature given to the plate E in a longitudinal direction corresponds approximate y to the longitudinal arch of the bony structure of the foot, and the transe verse arch of the plate E conforms to the transverse arch of the bony structure of the foot, as indicated in Fig. 8. It will also be noticed that the side edges of the plate E are curved inwardly and the curvature of the arch along the inner side edge E of the plate E is more pronounced than the curvature along the outer side edge E2 of the plate E. Now by this arrangement, the top .of the inner side edge E is higher than the extends obliquely to conform to the top of the outer side edge E2, and the rearAA end E3 of the plate E is somewhat narrower than the front end E, and the rear portion is preferably concaved for about one-third of the length of the plate, while the front two-thirds is convexed, and the ed e E* nning of the tread of the outer sole B. Tgliat is to say, the edge E* extends along a line about one-half inch back of the edge or be ginning' of the tread of the sole of the natural foot, or what is sometimes called the ball of the foot. It is an oblique line; therefore, the arch of the plate alon the line E has a greater spread, as it also gas a greater spring, than the arch along the line E2. The edge E* 'is slightly bent up or reversed in order that it may not unduly wear or chate the sole where it bears upon the latter. In practice, the front end E* of the plate E rests on the outer sole B, approximately at the beginning of the tread of the outer sole, A

while the rear end E3 of thev plate E rests on the outer sole B a-t the heel portion thereof, as plainly indicated in the drawings. The rear portion E3 of the plate E is concaved to form a. support to the forward end of the os calais bone, so that the rear iower portion of this bone is permitted (tends) to swing forward and the arch of the bony structure is thus raised.

By reference `to Fi .2 and 3, it will be noticed that the plate is arranged with its longitudinal axis approximately in the middle of the insole and below the tarsal, meta'- tarsal and the rear ends of the phalangeal bones, with the exception of the fth metavtarsal bone, which latter lies outside the outer edge of the plate E, the extension of insole acting as its support. As the curvature of the plate E closely follows the curvature of the arches formed by thetarsal,

metatarsal and phalangeal bones of the foot and the surface of the plate is formed 4so as to be approximately parallel to the arches, an exceedingly strong and natural support for the whole arch of the bony structure ofthe foot is had, and as the plate is somewhat resilient, `it relieves the bones of undue jars when the person is walking. The plate'E, on account of being rigidly secured to the insole C, is at all times in the same relativeV position to the arches of the .bony structure, and'thus prevents lateral twisting of the foot and thereby affords an ankle support. By

. the shape, proportions and arrangement described, the plate E scientifically corresponds to the anatomical shape and arrangement ot the bones of the wearers foot, in such a manner that the natural arch formed by the tarsal, metatarsal and the rear ends of the phalangeal bones is properly support# ed, to prevent weakening or breaking own of this portion of the wearers foot, and by the use of a shoe provided with the plate' amuse described, abroken down arch can be readily restored toits. original and natural shape. By the arrangement described, the weight of the body is lfocused near the center of the foot, and is thenv distributed throu h the foot equally to all such parts of the oot as are supported by those parts of the shoe that touch the ground, owing to the curva- ,t-ure given to .the plate E in both its lon tudinal and transversedirections, and to t e location of the late E, according to the arrangement of t e bonesin the foot of the wearer, which bones form a longitudinal as,

well as atransverse arch, in accordance with which the arches of the plate E are shaped. By' having the front end of the plate E terminating at or near the beginning of the tread of the sole, it is evident that when the wearer walks the plate does not interfere with the bend of the shoe, especially on the forward step.

It will be observed from an inspection of the drawings, that the support is arched longitudinally and that the height of the arch is considerably greater on the inner than on the outer side, that' is, the support is shaped to conform to the normal arch ofthe foot. This construction supports the foot in its-natural position, thus permittin the natural expansion and contraction o the muscles, and the said muscles. are strengthened b this natural use, thus overcoming the de ormity of the foot, and restoring it to its normal condition.

It will, of course, be understood that, while I have illustrated my improvement as designed jfor and applied to a left foot or shoe, it is intended to be utilized for both vfeet, the shape and arrangement being reversed to apply tothe ri ht foot..

I do not limit myselfg to the exact form or proportion; shown in the drawings and described, nor to any-particularl material, as in all of these respects my invention is capable of variation without departingfrom the spirit of m invention.

But whatI o claim as'new and: desire to protect by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a boot'or shoe, a stiff yet resilient supporting plate, the said plate beingv arched upwardly longitudinally to conform to the normal arch of the foot, the upper surface of the anterior portion of the plate being convex from side to side,.and the upper surface of the posterior portion concave from side to side.

2. In a boot or shoe, a stiii' yet resilient longitudinally to conform to the normal arch of the foot, the upper surface of the anterior ,portion of the plate being convex from side to side, and the upper surface 'of the posterior portion concave yfrom side to supporting plate, the said plate being arched side,l the inner edge of the plate being concave and the outer approximately straight assesses and of lesser length than the inner ed e, the .longitudinal arch being greatest at t e inner side of the plate. e

3. A stii yet resilient supportin plate for use with a boot or shoe, the said p ate bein arched upwardly u longitudinally, the sai arch being of greater hei ht at its inner edge to cause the upper sur ace of the late to face upwardly and outwardly to con 'orm to the normal arch of the foot, the inner edge of the plate being concave and the outer approximating to the corresponding side of the shoe sole and of lesser length than the iner edge, the upper surface of the anterior portion yof the plate being convex from side to side, and the upper surface of the posterior portion concave from side to side.

4. In a boot or shoe, a stiii yet resilient supporting plate arched upwardly longitudinally, the arch on the inside edge having shorter radii than the arch on the outer edge, and said plate having its anterior portion arched upwardly transversely, and its posterior portion arched downwardly transversely.

5. A stii yet resilient supporting plate for use with a boot or shoe, having a longitudinal -arch, the outer edge being arched on greater radii than the inner edge, and having reverse. transverse curvatures, the upper surface of the anterior .portion being confl 'vex and the upper surface of the posterior portion being concave.

. 6. A sti' yet resilient supporting plate for use with a boot or shoe, having a longitudinal arch, the outer edge being arched on greater radii than the inner edge, and having lreverse transverse curvatures, the upper surface of the anterior portion being convex and the upper surface of the posterior portion being concave, the front edge of said plate extending substantially parallel to the line of joints of the normal foot, and being slightly bent in reverse ofthe arch along the forward point of support.

7. In a boot, or shoe, a stiff yet resilient supporting plate arched upwardly longitudinally, the arch on the inside edge having shorter radii ythan the arch on the outer edge, and said plate having its anterior pr-` t-ion arched upwardly transversely.

8. A stiE yet resilient supporting plate for use with a boot or shoe, said plate being arched upwardly longitudinally for its whole length, the inner side edge of the late having a higher arch relative to the lpiorizontal plane than the arch on the outer side edge of the plate, and the upper surface of the anterior portion of the late being convex from side to side, while t e upper surface of the osterior portion is concave from side to si e.

` EDWARD J. MOUNTAIN. Witnesses:

FRED A. BIL'roN,

MAURICE SMITH. 

